This year, Tarrant County commissioners and Fort Worth City Council members \u2014 elected officials who make up the two largest government bodies in the nation\u2019s biggest urban purple county \u2014 cut the number of public meetings they have, giving residents fewer opportunities to speak to them in an open forum.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Politically tense issues, including an unusual mid-decade county redistricting<\/a>; ongoing deaths<\/a> in the Tarrant County Jail; the suspension of municipal programs<\/a> devoted to diversity, equity and inclusion; and accusations over a casket left outside the mayor\u2019s home<\/a> have included blunt criticism of elected officials, arguments between city and county representatives, and the occasional removal of a speaker.\u00a0<\/p>\n Civic engagement, open government and free speech experts told the Fort Worth Report and KERA News that limiting opportunities for residents to speak at public meetings is legal but not best practice.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEven when they have discretion to do it, I think the government cutting back on opportunities for public comment is bad policy,\u201d said Aaron Terr, director of public advocacy for the national civil liberties group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. \u201cThere\u2019s a difference between what\u2019s legally permissible and what\u2019s good for democracy, and eliminating or sharply limiting public comment opportunities makes government less transparent and less accountable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In October, the Commissioners Court began meeting once a month<\/a>, a switch up from the previous twice-a-month schedule. Commissioners voted 3-2 to approve the change after a year marked by contentious meetings with some speakers getting removed, arrested and even criminally charged<\/a> for clapping, swearing or shouting.\u00a0<\/p>\n Next year, City Council will have 10 meetings exclusively dedicated to hearing comments from residents \u2014 down from the 15 such meetings<\/a> scheduled in 2025. Speakers may address the council on any agenda item during regular meetings and on any topic during public comment meetings.\u00a0<\/p>\n Some council members in favor of the reduction, which the council approved 7-4, argued that public comment meetings draw low turnout and often see the same residents voicing concerns about the same issues. In 2024 and 2025, public comment meetings saw an average of 18 speakers, according to an unofficial review of meeting minutes by the Fort Worth Report.\u00a0<\/p>\n At least one council member is considering rolling back the reduction but has yet to present an unofficial proposal.\u00a0<\/p>\n Elected officials from the two entities said the approved schedule changes will ease high workloads for staff who prepare the meetings.\u00a0<\/p>\n When commissioners voted on their meeting reduction, County Judge Tim O\u2019Hare said it would help cut time needed to prepare meeting agendas but added that commissioners can call additional meetings as needed.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m willing to give it a try from the standpoint of \u2018I am regularly talking to staff about what can we do here, what can we do over there, what can we put together,\u2019 and it is so agenda-heavy that it keeps them from being able to go look at stuff and research stuff and come up with different ideas about how to do things,\u201d O\u2019Hare said of the reduction in August.\u00a0<\/p>\n Residents and activists who frequent Commissioners Court and City Hall criticize the reductions as undemocratic and an attempt to silence those who disagree with their elected representatives.\u00a0<\/p>\n Throughout the year, such meetings<\/a> have seen commissioners and council members accuse residents of performativity, virtue signaling and partisan bickering.<\/p>\n Driving public engagement<\/p>\n Texas law requires government bodies to provide their residents the opportunity to comment on any listed agenda item before voting on the matter. Some city and county governments, such as Fort Worth\u2019s council, schedule additional meeting time for residents to share comments and concerns unrelated to the meeting agenda, but they\u2019re not legally required to do so.\u00a0<\/p>\n Usually, local government meetings go like this: Officials vote on government business listed on the meeting\u2019s agenda, item by item. Residents who sign up in advance typically get three minutes each to speak on agenda items before they\u2019re voted on. A sound will chime when their time is up, at which point the resident must stop speaking and sit back down.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to be able to have access to the people that we\u2019ve voted for to be able to hear us. And when those opportunities are diminished, our voices are diminished,\u201d said Sheri Allen, a member of the progressive activist group Justice Network of Tarrant County<\/a> and a frequent government meeting attendee.\u00a0<\/p>\n Public comment is one of many ways for residents to give input on local government, but it\u2019s not the end-all, be-all, said Larry Schooler, a communications professor at the University of Texas at Austin and board member of the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation<\/a>. It\u2019s helpful to have public commentary recorded in an official capacity, he said, but people shouldn\u2019t get \u201chung up\u201d on the idea that that has to happen at an official government meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s very limited payoff to just this idea that we\u2019ll put a microphone in the middle of the room during a council meeting or county commissioners court meeting, and we\u2019ll get comments that we can meaningfully incorporate into what we\u2019re voting on,\u201d said Schooler, who for eight years led public engagement efforts for the city of Boston. \u201cThe chances of that are very, very low.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s a line of reasoning Fort Worth City Council members have used to explain, and justify, the meeting reductions. During the September meeting to approve their 2026 schedule, several council members in favor of reducing public comment meetings said they are more than willing to meet one-on-one with constituents to address concerns and identify solutions privately.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mayor Mattie Parker, who supported the reduction, said in a statement that the council\u2019s new meeting schedule prioritizes efficiency while giving residents ample opportunity to speak.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a reminder, there is allocated time for anyone to share comments or concerns publicly on every item of city business, and I am always happy to listen to concerns from residents outside of the regular council schedule as well,\u201d her statement read.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the Commissioners Court, residents have argued that only one meeting per month in a county of 2.2 million residents will lead to long meetings that further hinder the public\u2019s ability to participate. The court\u2019s Tuesday morning meetings are already hard for many people to attend.\u00a0<\/p>\n Commissioner Matt Krause, who supported the court\u2019s meeting reduction, said there\u2019s some legitimacy to residents\u2019 frustrations but he\u2019s also available outside of commissioners meetings.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d say that\u2019s even better because when you come to our office, we\u2019re using even more than three minutes,\u201d Krause said. \u201cIt kind of forces more meaningful conversations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Terr, the national expert, said private meetings with government officials are no substitute for a public dialogue.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s great when officials make themselves accessible for one-on-one meetings with constituents and can have a back-and-forth conversation, but it\u2019s not an either\/or,\u201d Terr said. \u201cThere\u2019s no reason that they can\u2019t or shouldn\u2019t do both.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Bill Aleshire is an Austin-based attorney who helped draft the original legislation that became the Texas Open Meetings Act, a law that requires government entities to keep official business accessible to the public.\u00a0<\/p>\n A former Travis County judge for more than a decade, Aleshire said it\u2019s \u201creally important\u201d that the public understands why government officials make the decisions they make, even when the public doesn\u2019t agree with the decision. Allowing residents to weigh in during public comment gives officials the opportunity to address concerns and share their reasoning in response.<\/p>\n \u201cThe more you can do that in a transparent, open way that everyone can see, the more faith we have in our government,\u201d Aleshire said. \u201cIt\u2019s better to have conversations in public than just private conversations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Schooler emphasized that there isn\u2019t a \u201cone size fits all\u201d solution to civic engagement at public meetings. The bottom line, he said, is that governments should ensure the public can influence decisions that impact them.<\/p>\n In-person comment opportunities should be supplemented with other forms of engagement, such as text messaging, telephone calls and social media, Schooler said.<\/p>\n His proudest public engagement effort was a board game he helped design for an Austin bond election, which gave residents a hands-on opportunity to share how they would spend millions in available bond dollars on various infrastructure projects. That\u2019s one example of how government officials can think creatively and innovatively to foster civic engagement and gather resident feedback outside of traditional public comment meetings, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n City Council member Michael Crain, who supported the schedule change, said he\u2019s exploring a proposal to reverse the reduction and provide even more opportunities for public comment. A vote on his proposal may come before the council in January, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Crain said he doesn\u2019t regret his vote in favor of the schedule change, but he experienced \u201ca little change of heart\u201d after hearing feedback from residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI want to make sure that we have an environment where everybody feels they can come to their city government and air grievances or give kudos or whatever it is that they want to come say,\u201d Crain said. \u201cIt\u2019s a fine balance.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Over the past decade, public engagement at Tarrant County Commissioners Court and Fort Worth City Council meetings has ebbed and flowed, according to an unofficial review of council and commissioners meeting minutes by the Fort Worth Report and KERA.<\/p>\n Commissioners Court meetings rarely saw more than one resident speak in the 2010s until 2019 when commissioners voted to extend a partnership<\/a> between the sheriff\u2019s office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. About 40 people spoke before that vote, with the majority in opposition.\u00a0<\/p>\n Since then, controversial issues such as deaths in the county jail<\/a> and the elimination of the county\u2019s rental assistance department<\/a> have drawn dozens of speakers, extending meetings for hours.\u00a0<\/p>\n City Council didn\u2019t implement stand-alone public comment meetings until 2021 shortly after Parker was elected \u2014 a change meant to improve efficiency and end long meetings and late nights<\/a> at City Hall, she said at the time. The council\u2019s combined regular meetings and public comment meetings this year as of mid-October saw people speak 450 times, a slight decrease from the 486 speakers recorded in 2016, according to the Report\u2019s review of meeting minutes. The city\u2019s population grew by more than 200,000 residents during that time frame.\u00a0<\/p>\n As residents urge the two bodies to increase rather than decrease public comment opportunities, some of them question whether such input has a tangible impact on government decision-making.\u00a0<\/p>\n The most recent example of this at the Commissioners Court came this summer, as Republican commissioners, led by O\u2019Hare, barreled through a redistricting process intended to favor Republicans<\/a>. The process drew hundreds of residents to court meetings and town halls<\/a>, with the majority of speakers opposing the map commissioners eventually adopted.\u00a0<\/p>\n O\u2019Hare did not return a request for comment on the meeting changes or public comments.\u00a0<\/p>\n Krause said he was clear during his campaign that he would support redistricting to favor Republicans, so it \u201cdidn\u2019t matter how many people we heard against it.\u201d He stayed true to that promise and the wishes of his constituents despite public opposition, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Commissioner Alisa Simmons, a Democrat who voted against the meeting change, said her Republican colleagues wanted to limit public meetings after facing unwanted scrutiny from local activists over the county redistricting process, as well as deaths in the county jail.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got some court members who are thin-skinned, which begs the question, \u2018Why did you even run? Why did you sign up for this job?\u201d Simmons said. \u201cThe job entails serving taxpayers, and you have to listen to them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Two Fort Worth City Council meetings in the past decade drew more than 100 speakers. Those included one in 2017, at which the majority of speakers wanted Fort Worth to join a lawsuit<\/a> against a Texas law targeting \u201csanctuary cities\u201d for immigrants; and one in December 2024, where most speakers were there to support or oppose the politically active<\/a> Mercy Culture Church\u2019s request to build a shelter for human trafficking survivors<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n At both of those meetings, council members voted against the majority of speakers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sometimes, Crain is set in his decision before hearing public comments, he said \u2014 particularly for zoning cases that require months of planning and research before coming to a council vote. Other decisions, such as his vote to delay suspending<\/a> diversity, equity and inclusion programs, were influenced by hearing public comments.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s been a handful of those decisions that are, I would say, consequential in some way that public comment did help at least slow down the train a little bit,\u201d Crain said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Crain and Krause said as elected officials, they have to weigh the concerns expressed during public comments as well as private communications with constituents, while also knowing they were elected to ultimately make decisions on behalf of residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s a hard thing to juggle,\u201d Krause said. \u201cI think you stand strong on your beliefs, but you\u2019re always willing to listen, to know there may be something else out there that you could learn from.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Schooler, the UT professor, said it\u2019s hard for residents to effectively impact government decision-making through public comments. Public comment is the last chance for residents to weigh in on a decision, usually only moments before the decision is made, he noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n In response to the changes at Commissioners Court, several frequent attendees formed the People\u2019s Commissioners Court<\/a>, their own version of a public comment session for residents to air grievances publicly amongst each other. Their first meetings were in October and November.<\/p>\n Regardless of the schedule changes, Shimamoto said he plans to attend the People\u2019s Commissioners Court and keep showing up at local government meetings to advocate for public issues that need his voice, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe only remedy for isolation and depression is action,\u201d Shimamoto said. \u201cIf you feel powerless, if you feel overwhelmed, turn off the screens, hit the bricks and go be with some folks because that is where you will find connection and community and the realization that there is work we can do that will make a difference.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Miranda Suarez is the Tarrant County accountability reporter for KERA. Got a tip? Email her at msuarez@kera.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative<\/a> for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.<\/p>\n Republish This Story<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/101425-Public-comment-5-.jpg\")
Fort Worth resident Ken Shimamoto approaches the lectern to speak at a Fort Worth City Council public comment meeting Oct. 14, 2025, at City Hall. (Drew Shaw | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Goss-TarrantCountyCommissionersCourt-07.jpg\")
Arlington resident Stacy Melo speaks during a Tarrant County Commissioners Court meeting June 3, 2025, at the county administration building. (Mary Abby Goss | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Commissioners-court-7.jpg\")
Tarrant County Commissioner Matt Krause, a Republican, speaks during a commissioners meeting Aug. 19, 2025, at the Tom Vandergriff Civil Courts Building. (Drew Shaw | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/101425-Public-comment-10-.jpg\")
Attendees hold signs saying \u201cApologize Mattie\u201d and \u201cRestore Public Comments\u201d during a Fort Worth City Council public comment meeting Oct. 14, 2025, at City Hall. (Drew Shaw | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/MercyOak_Nov13_CamiloDiaz0002.jpg\")
Residents fill the City Council chambers at Fort Worth\u2019s former City Hall during a public hearing on Mercy Culture\u2019s proposed shelter for human trafficking survivors Nov. 13, 2024. (Camilo Diaz | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0805-CityCouncilWorkSession-15.jpg\")
Fort Worth City Council members Michael Crain, left, and Charlie Lauersdorf listen during a work session Aug. 5, 2025, at City Hall. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)<\/p>\n
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